Going abroad to pursue higher education requires a great deal of money. It is nearly impossible to bear all expenses abroad which includes the course fees, house rent, food bills and other expenses. This is why, to pursue higher education abroad, one must try to get a good scholarship.

Since there are many meritorious students in India, especially the SC, ST, OBC and Economically Backward class (EBC) candidates, who have the potential to do well provided then are given financial support, the Indian government have introduced a list of new scholarships for students belonging to the Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribe and Other Backward classes. These scholarships are for students who want to undertake higher education in foreign universities in the field of art, agriculture, law, medicine and engineering.

1. National Overseas Scholarship for Scheduled Tribe Students

Implemented by the Ministry of Tribal Affairs, this scholarship scheme offers financial aid to meritorious students belonging to Scheduled Tribe for pursuing Master level courses, Ph.D. and Post-Doctoral Research Programs in foreign universities in the fields of Engineering, Management, Economic/Finance, Pure Science, Applied Science, Agriculture, Medicine, Humanities, and Social Science. 30% of the awards are reserved for female candidates.

2. National Overseas Scholarship for Scheduled Caste Students

Implemented by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, the scheme provides financial assistance to candidates pursuing Master level course and Ph.D. in foreign universities in the field of Pure Sciences and Applied Sciences; Engineering and Management; Agricultural Science and Medicine; Commerce, Accounting & Finance; and Humanities, Social Science & Fine Arts. The number of awards available is 100 per annum, and the annual maintenance allowance of USD 15,400 is prescribed.

The scheme has been implemented by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment. The scheme offers interest subsidy to meritorious OBC and EBC students so that they can pursue higher education abroad in the field at the Masters, M.Phil, and Ph.D level.

Eligibility Criteria:

Student should have secured admission in a university abroad for post-graduate diploma, masters, M.phil, Ph.D level courses.

The scheme will be available to students only once, either at the Master's level or while pursuing Ph.D.

The income ceiling for OBC candidates should not exceed the current creamy layer criteria and ₹2.5 lakh for EBCs.

4. Padho Pardesh

This scheme has been implemented by the Ministry of Minority Affairs to provide interest subsidy to minority students to pursue Master’s Level Courses, M.Phil and Ph.D. in foreign universities in the field of Arts, Engineering, Agriculture and Medical. Students who belong to minority communities viz. Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, and Parsis are eligible for this scheme.

Eligibility Criteria:

Student should have secured admission in a university abroad for post-graduate diploma, masters, M.phil, Ph.D level courses.

The family income ceiling for the candidate/parents should not be more than INR 6 lakhs per annum.

5. Overseas Doctoral Fellowship Programme

The objective of the SERB Overseas Doctoral Fellowship is to build national capacity where the number of researchers in areas of interest to the country is fairly low.The scheme is implemented by Science and Engineering Research Board, a statutory body of Department of Science and Technology. The selected candidate/research fellow will be provided US $ 24,000 per annum for 4 years for undertaking the doctoral research program in Science, Technology, Engineering and Medicine from top ranking universities abroad.